Raleigh, Jan. 20—Superior Court Judge Henry A. Grady pushed aside the secrecy of the robe and mask and came out into the open as the “known head and recognized spokesman” of the Ku Klux Klan in North Carolina in a 2,000 word statement issued here tonight. He offered a loyal defense of the organization and established his own relationship with it as one to be sustained regardless of the sacrifice.
It had been reported hereabouts for a week that Judge Grady was preparing a statement, but his bold championship of the klan and his dramatic pledge of allegiance to it as the grand dragon of North Carolina were hardly expected. The statement was issued freely and “largely in response to a widespread demand from among the more than 30,000 klansmen of the state who wished for the organization a known head and recognized spokesman.” Judge Grady said.
While defending the Klan, the grand dragon devoted considerable of his statement o a defense of himself in sitting upon the superior court bench while sitting upon the throne of the invisible empire. The oath of the Klan contains nothing to conflict with his oath of office, he said. With reference to his own attitude should a member of the Klan appear before him for trial, he avowed:
“I would deal with such a man exactly as I would a Mason or a Presbyterian or a democrat, for I am a Mason, Presbyterian and a democrat. It might be that I would be influenced to give him a greater degree of punishment because of the fact that as a Klansman he is under a double obligation not to violate the law.”
Judge Grady became grand dragon of the realm of North Carolina in September, 1922, his statement affirmed. Rather than entertain any intention of relinquishing that post or withdrawing from the Klan, the judge’s statement emphasized that he is prepared to stick to the organization whatever the cost may be.
From the front page of the Concord Daily Tribune, Monday, Jan. 21, 1924
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